Thursday, February 24, 2011

Rusting In Peace

Rust in peace: Stunning shipwrecks captured on camera around the world

An intrepid British photographer has travelled the world snapping pictures of the bizarre things lying on the sea bed. Diving enthusiast Alex Mustard, 36, has made many strange discoveries while exploring beneath the water's surface. His pictures, taken while investigating the insides of eerie shipwrecks, include barnacle-covered motorbikes once meant for British troops in World War Two.

A diver approaches the bow of the Kittiwake, a US military ship purposely sunk off the Cayman Islands this year for divers to explore.

The diver grabs the wheel of the Kittiwake which will quickly become covered with marine life.

Rusty British trucks also lie forgotten in their watery graves along with rifles that have never been used, and one extraordinary photo even shows the shell of the iconic VW Beetle car. Alex, from Southampton, Hampshire, said: 'Wrecks attract divers because of the incongruity of seeing something from above the waves beneath them. 'The VW Beetle was purposely sunk for divers and it's particularly bizarre - it's the last thing you would expect to sea underwater.

One of the motorbikes found inside the hold of HMS Thistlegorm, which was sunk in the Red Sea by German bombers in 1941. The bikes were bound for British troops.

The shell of a VW beetle that was purposely sunk in Capernwray Quarry in Lancashire as an attraction to divers.

A school of horse-eye jacks swims past the wreck of US Kittiwake in the Cayman Islands.

'I find it fascinating seeing something familiar in an alien place - underwater. 'I couldn't say how many wrecks I've seen but each is interesting in its own way. Each is unique, the features differ on every wreck and the atmosphere varies too.' One particularly fascinating wreck for Alex is the HMS Thislegorm - a British cargo ship that was carrying military supplies when it was sunk by a German bomber in the Red Sea in 1941.

A diver is pictured through a porthole closing in on the wreck of the massive Greek freighter Giannis D which foundered on the Red Sea reef of Abu Nuhas in 1983.

A pair of divers explore the 100-metre long cargo ship Giannis D, one of the biggest wrecks to be found in the Red Sea.

Alex said: 'This wreck is still packed with trucks, bikes and rifles. 'War wrecks are always the most sombre, I find they are not only museums but also memorials. 'And I always have mixed feeling of excitement and sadness when exploring them. It is an intense experience on so many levels.'